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Clear eyes, clean room, can't lose!

These gorgeous photos of Napa Valley really have nothing to do with my "Clean room equals clear mind" epiphany. Enjoy!

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It's truly amazing how much better I feel when I give myself a clean slate to work with. I've admitted before that I'm a huge proponent of the "To-Do" List, and when I'm trying to be really hard on myself, I even give myself hard and fast deadlines. Like writing "Monday - NO EXCEPTIONS" as the title of my list.

Unfortunately, I have a constant problem of not actually completing, like, 80% of the tasks, even when the list is yelling at me in all caps.

So yesterday I took a new approach. I have a seriously busy December pummeling my way, more than half of which I will be spending in hotels, and the only way I'll get through it is to make sure my To-Do list doesn't eat me alive. Or paralyze me into not doing any of it.

I titled my list "Things That Need to Get Done (In no particular order)". It consisted of everything from "take clothes to dry cleaner" to "schedule massage".

Side Note: Living Social? Totally clutch. I've been whining and complaining about my back for like, seven months (I kid you not) but I've never beem totally keen on just dropping $100 for someone to rub my back. But $24 sounded seriously more reasonable. Goodbye cranky old lady back!

But when I got home last night, I didn't do any of the things on my list. I did however clean my room.

"CLEAN YOUR ROOM, DAMMIT!" has been on my to-do list everyday since I was in the sixth grade. I'm a messy person. Not dirty, but messy. There is a definite distinction. My room gets to the point where I have to leap across piles of clothes, shoe boxes, and suitcases to get to my bed, and then I clean it about six to twelve days later.

I try to count the leaping as cardio for that week and a half.

So yesterday I powered through and scoured my room. Clothes were hung on hangers. Closet doors were closed because there were no longer piles of shoes preventing them from closing. The surface of my desk is visible. I made some serious strides.

I did all of this cleaning with Fri Ni Li in the background. It inspired my title, clearly.

And as if it were magic, I slept like a baby. Without the weird dreams and the tossing and turning. I didn't write anything on the notepad next to my bed in the middle of the night (I wish I were kidding) And I woke up well rested at 6:15.

You know what I did next?

If you guessed "channeled you inner morning person and went running", you thought right.

Whoa! Fancy camera photos are better than iPhone photos!

It was a brisk 32°. I ran 4 miles. We're not talking anything earth-shattering, but I ran fast, I felt good, and I got dressed super quickly because (gasp!) all of my clothes were hanging in my closet just asking me to wear them, instead of begging me to hang them up or iron them.

My mom has been telling me for more than a decade that my life would be easier if I had a clean room. I thought she was nuts. Why would having a clean room make my life easier?

Oh, maybe because I would sleep better, have outfits readily available, and a place to work at my desk.

Thanks, Mom. Does it mean anything to know that I finally took your advice after fifteen years?

Now it's on to everything else on my to-do list. Hopefully all of that stuff will be easier now, too.

Or at least for the three weeks until I'm jumping over suitcases again.